On your sleeve

Forget the dark circles,
The stretch marks and scars,
The dodgy right ankle from slips on toy cars,
Nobody warns you that when you have kids,
Emotions boil over - a pot minus lid.

Now a tale of injustice, cruelty, neglect,
Will stir up strong feelings you will not expect,
The urge to protect like a lion with their cub,
No longer able to cast off with a shrug.

Reports of young courage on Children In Need,
Causes heartache so painful you'll donate at speed,
A story of wartime, infants injured while sleeping,
Will bring instant tears, uncontrollable weeping.

A children's choir, a forgotten mitten,
A picture of a newborn kitten,
All will cause your eyes to prick ...
The tears now find it hard to stick.

The sight of children's joy at play,
You'll sit and blub an hour away.

When you give birth you'll not retrieve,
A heart now permanently on your sleeve.

Mummy Poet x